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TautogShoulder seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 9 AM · Tautog
- Now
- 696 PM EDT
- Best window
- 6-10 PMHigh slack
- Tide now
- Flooding7.1 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Card Cove scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 6 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
89Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.3 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
98Wind: 6 kt NNWPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
88Water temp: 59°F, primeLight: DuskSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 1.6 ftSeason & habitat · Tautog
Species seasonality
67Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Tautog is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with Maine DMR before you keep a fish.
Source: Maine DMR · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Tautog is best here
Shoulder season for Tautog · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Card Cove
- Depth
- 20-70 ftDrop-off
- Structure
- Bay · Outer · ExposedBay · drop-off
- Season
- Shoulder seasonTautog
NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 13 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.
About this spot
Fishing Card Cove
Card Cove is a bay in Casco Bay, Maine. Depth is 20-70 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads bay, outer water and exposed.
Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are scup, Atlantic cod and black sea bass. It is peak season now for scup, Atlantic cod, black sea bass and haddock, and shoulder season for tautog and summer flounder. Scup peak from June through September. Atlantic cod peak from May through June and from September through October. Black sea bass peak from June through July and in September.
Tackle & technique
- Tautog
- Tautog live in rocks, wrecks, bridge pilings and jetties and rarely stray from cover, usually in 10 to 60 feet inshore and deeper in late fall. Anchor so the bait sits in the structure, fish crab on a short rig or a tog jig, and set hard on the second tap before the fish pulls into the rocks. Clams and worms work better in cold spring water; hard crabs are the standard in fall.
- Scup
- Scup school over hard and mixed bottom, rock piles, mussel beds, piers and jetties, usually in 10 to 60 feet of water. Fish a high-low rig with small hooks and squid or clam strips on the bottom, and chum with clam to hold a school under the boat. If nothing bites within 15 minutes, move to the next piece of structure.
- Atlantic cod
- Cod hold near coarse, rocky bottom on ledges, banks and wrecks, commonly from 80 to 300 feet in the Gulf of Maine. Drift over the structure with a diamond or cod jig and a teaser fly above it, keeping the jig within a few feet of bottom, or fish clams on a high-low rig. Check the stock area and season before keeping one, because most of the year cod must be released.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Card Ledge79
Bar · 0.4 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 79
- Black sea bass 76
- Atlantic cod 75
6 kt NNWH 7:58 PM · 8.5 ftL 2:27 AM · 1.3 ft
- Dictator Ledge79
Bar · 0.7 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 79
- Black sea bass 76
- Atlantic cod 75
6 kt NNWH 7:58 PM · 8.5 ftL 2:27 AM · 1.3 ft
- Gangway Ledge79
Bar · 0.7 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 79
- Black sea bass 76
- Atlantic cod 75
6 kt NNWH 7:58 PM · 8.5 ftL 2:27 AM · 1.3 ft
- Spruce Point Ledges78
Bar · 0.7 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 78
- Atlantic cod 75
- Black sea bass 75
6 kt NNWH 7:58 PM · 8.5 ftL 2:27 AM · 1.3 ft
Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with Maine DMR before you keep a fish.